BKMT READING GUIDES
419
by Will Ferguson
Paperback : 432 pages
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Will Ferguson takes readers deep into the labyrinth of lies that is "419," the world’s most insidious Internet scam.
A car tumbles through darkness down a snowy ravine.
A woman without a name walks out of a dust storm in sub-Saharan Africa.
And in the ...
Introduction
Will Ferguson takes readers deep into the labyrinth of lies that is "419," the world’s most insidious Internet scam.
A car tumbles through darkness down a snowy ravine.
A woman without a name walks out of a dust storm in sub-Saharan Africa.
And in the seething heat of Lagos City, a criminal cartel scours the Internet, looking for victims.
Lives intersect. Worlds collide. And it all begins with a single email: "Dear Sir, I am the daughter of a Nigerian diplomat, and I need your help?"
When Laura Curtis, a lonely editor in a cold northern city, discovers that her father has died because of one such swindle, she sets out to track down?and corner?her father’s killer. It is a dangerous game she’s playing, however, and the stakes are higher than she can ever imagine.
Woven into Laura’s journey is a mysterious woman from the African Sahel with scars etched into her skin and a young man who finds himself caught up in a web of violence and deceit.
And running through it, a dying father’s final words: "You, I love."
Excerpt
1A car, falling through darkness.
End over end, one shuddering thud following another. Fountains of glass showering outward and then—a vacuum of silence collapsing back in.
The vehicle came to rest on its back, at the bottom of an embankment below the bridge and propped up against a splintered stand of poplar trees. You could see the path it had taken through the snow, leaving a churned trail of mulch and wet leaves in its wake. ...
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Discussion Questions
1. Instead of a standard linear plot structure, 419 skips back and forth in time and location, and follows a diverse cast of characters from very different cultural backgrounds. How does this structure create dramatic tension and propel the story forward? And how does it relate to Laura’s work as a copy editor, which involves trying to impose a chronological timeline on overlapping events?2. Many of the main characters in the novel willingly take part in some form of illegal activity and feel somewhat justified in doing so. Do you believe that any of the characters have good reasons for their actions? Did any character cross a moral line that changed your sympathy for them?
3. Laura edits other people’s lives. What is the significance of this, symbolically as well as practivally, in the plot?
4. Which character's storyline did you find most interesting? What are your thoughts about that character's fate at the end of the book?
5. While Winston's 419 scam sets the whole story into motion, the author stops short of making him the villain in the story. What were your initial feelings toward the character, and did you develop sympathy for him when Ironsi-Egobia and Laura closed in on him? How does the scene where Laura visits Winston's parents affect your sympathy for him?
6. Discuss the ways in which the destructive nature of the oil industry and Western cultural influence in Africa affect the hearts and minds of characters such as Winston and Nnamdi. To what extend do you think Western culture should be blamed for certain tragic conditions in Africa?
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